And let me say after the week we’ve had, that is no small feat. With the epic flooding at our cottage and all around our region, it has been a humbling experience to see the force of mother nature. My husband has been an absolute hero in keeping the water in our basement at a manageable level all week and trying to keep our losses and damage to a minimum. With no flood insurance and no disaster relief funding, it is terrifying what could have happened. To say I’ve been distracted would be an understatement. My heart goes out to those who have suffered a much worse fate and I only hope that the disaster relief funding allows them to get their lives back to normal quickly.

Now back to the pretty.

And in case you have forgotten what I started with, here’s a scary reminder.

Very, very frightening, well from a design standpoint. To see the step by step process you can visit the past 5 weeks’ posts here.

My goal was for a happy, colourful space that was also clean and minimal. I love when everything has a place and now it does. And since we are contemplating moving sooner rather than later, I didn’t want to break the bank and I wanted it to be an easy change back to a bedroom. Plus it definitely helps me to get the creative juices flowing when I can be in such a calm and organized space.

And now for a few more reveal pics.

This was not the clock that I originally wanted but it wasn’t going to be even available to order until early June and luckily Homesense provided this very reasonable and attractive substitute.

I have to say I’m in love with the light fixture, I think it’s unexpected and fun in a sewing/craft room. I also love the dark finish against the lighter walls, plus it pulls in the black from the drapery rod and the sconces. This was from Zone and I was so thankful that they had it in stock right when I needed it.

One of the last things I got done was this bulletin board. It was spray painted in the same dark grey as the bookcase and then I used a chevron fabric on the cork front and trimmed it all out in a fabric ribbon. She’s looking mighty handsome now.

Storage was key in this room. For my beads and jewelry fittings, I bought Ikea’s Grundtal magnetic strips, typically used as a knife organizer. But I attached my empty David’s Tea tins, of which I have soooo many, and ta da… bead storage extraordinare. Hoarding does come in handy sometimes 🙂 Now I can see all my pretty little beads so that they inspire me to create. Placing Ikea’s Ranarp sconces on each side lights up this area for any small details that I need to see.

The white Fintorp organizers on top are also from Ikea, the vase I already had, the faux branches were a hand me down from a friend and the clock was, as I already mentioned, a great find from Homesense.

A few of the Gleve organizers help with small items and they fit perfectly in the shallower drawers at the top.

I adore this method of organizing fabric. It was easy to pick up some pant/skirt hangers and then just place the fabric inside. Now, it’s easy to see what I have and they are all in one place. My larger fabric bolts are tucked in the corner together with my ironing board, and my iron is easily reachable on the closet shelf.

The bookcase turned out so great with the dark grey paint and Hygge & West’s Quilt wallpaper. I love how the graphic print complements the paisley print of the drapery. It is also home to many boxes …hello Tiffany 😉 and containers which store glue guns, floral notions, drapery hardware, etc… Two of Ikea’s Skubbare baskets took care of all my extra wool that was in various bags around the house and they look great doing it.

I’ve even got room to grown on this bookcase!

I also picked up these clever knitted Nordrana wall baskets in the perfect shade of grey for my room. They store my knitting needles and patterns. And if I tire of them here they can be used as standing baskets on the shelf.

My sewing table is kept simple, with just my sewing machine on it, ready for the next sewing project. The artwork above is repurposed from my recently redone dining room, since they didn’t make the cut there and they tied in perfectly with the drapery colours. The chair was as I mentioned in Week 2 a very lucky find at Ikea as it was being discontinued in this particular colour.

This makeover was done on a very strict budget, so the key was using alot of items I already had. The two tables, bookcase, bulletin board, basket, vase, artwork and many of the storage items I already had and of course, Ikea was a god send for budget friendly and practical pieces.

And for those of you who like to see the befores and afters side by side, here you go.

And for it’s final closeup.

I’d like to say a big thank you to the creator and organizer of the One Room Challenge, Linda at Calling It Home and her media partner, House Beautiful for this challenge. I am absolutely 100% certain that without this incentive my sewing/craft room would still not be finished. Be sure to check out the absolutely awesome reveals from the 20 featured designers and my fellow linkers . They are truly awe inspiring!

Yikes, only one week left and I’m scrambling a little. So to recap, I’m a guest participant in the One Room Challenge, where bloggers link up and share the challenge of completing their one room transformations in a mere six weeks. A big thank you to the creator and organizer of the ORC, Linda at Calling It Home and her partner, House Beautiful and of course, you for following us all along. If you haven’t already be sure to check out the 20 featured designers and my fellow linkers as they share their inspirations, challenges and next week, the final reveals!

For all my inspiration and how I got this far, you can read the previous weeks’ posts by clicking the links below.

Thankfully, I got quite a bit accomplished this week. The biggest job was getting the bookcase painted and wallpapered. Which I completed late last weekend and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. This is how it looked when I started.

And it now looks like this! It still needs to be styled but isn’t she pretty?

For the DIYers, here’s what I did:

removed the shelves;

lightly sanded the entire bookcase and shelves;

wiped it with a damp cloth to get the dust off, and then let it dry.

I used Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint for furniture and trim in a pearl finish and gave it two thin coats with a sponge roller. I did use a good quality brush for the corners. Let it dry well between coats and I gave it a good two days before I put anything on the shelves.

The wallpaper had to be pasted, which I prefer as it doesn’t get gluey water everywhere and that was the best scenario as the back of the shelf is just a thick cardboard. It was tricky to wallpaper as it wasn’t completely flat and it has creases in it. But I did the best I could, and I think it turned out really well.

I’m hoping the paint holds up okay, since I didn’t use a primer. Time will tell. The finish looks really good in person, so I’m crossing my fingers.

My fabric samples/remnants are all nicely hung up in the closet, so now I can actually see what I have. I really love this idea. The really big pieces that weren’t on a roll, have been placed in a large wicker basket I have.

Ikea’s Alex rolling drawers have been filled with wrapping paper, ribbon, sewing and craft accessories. I love that it’s on wheels so that it can be moved around the room as needed.

But my most favourite thing in the room is the drapery.

Honestly, I can’t believe how beautiful the fabric looks against the turquoise walls. To think, they started off as a Pottery Barn duvet cover. I spent some time taking it all apart and measuring twice or maybe three times 😉 It ended up working perfectly for the length I needed. I also had some black out lining from some old curtains that I sewed into the panels, to give them some weight. Black out wasn’t really needed for this room, but I love that it allows the panels to drape better.

I kept them really simple, as I was doing them myself, and just hemmed them, so they are really just a big rectangle. I already had the drapery rod and the rings so I just hung the panels from the rings, just at the edge of the window moulding, as I didn’t want them to block any light from coming into the room. And in my humble opinion, they totally make the room.

So here’s my list of what has been done and what still needs to be done:

Paint room √

Put together office chair √

Assemble drawer unit √

Pick up light fixture √

Put up light fixture

Spray paint interior of wall sconces √

Put up wall sconces

Paint bookcase grey √

Wallpaper the back of the bookcase √

Paint the bulletin board √

Cover the bulletin board with fabric

Source wall clock √

Storage solution for fabric remnants √

Put away all craft/sewing/wrapping accessories √

Make drapery panels √

Hang drapery panels √

Accessorize room

Hang art

Have room photographed

I’m currently working on the bulletin board which is shaping up nicely. I did a blogging no no and forgot to take a before pic, but trust me this bulletin board frame was a dark brown when I started. I originally was going to paint it black to go with the Ikea Ranarp sconces but then I changed my mind and did it in the same grey as the Alex unit and bookcase. The plan is to cover the cork with a chevron patterned fabric in turquoise and ivory and trim it out in a matching ribbon.

After this I need to finish with the organization solutions and of course, style the shelves, put up the light fixtures (I can’t wait to see that done), hang the art and do a little clean up before it’s photographed next week.

We’ve been a little sidetracked this week, as we are trying to keep our cottage safe from the flooding Ottawa River. With all the rain we’ve gotten and the ice/snow melt on the river, it’s been a challenging spring. Three out of four of our sub-pumps have failed so it’s been a lot of back and forth for my husband to check on things. Our beach is completely submerged and the water is almost at the top of our stone wall (which is about 4-5′ high). As it stands now, he’s got a new pump working and is hoping to get the basement dry before Friday’s next deluge. Another 50-70 mm of rain is expected in the next few days…argh…

Well this week has been a bit of a challenge! To recap, I’m a guest participant in the One Room Challenge, hosted by Linda at Calling It Home. Bloggers link up and share the challenge of completing their one room transformations in a mere six weeks. You can follow the featured designers here and my fellow linkers here, as they share their inspirations, challenges and of course, the results.

I’ve actually been away in Florida for the past week, hence the challenge. So I am scrambling a little to catch up.

I am planning to start my bookcase makeover, this week and it will entail some paint and wallpaper. Yes, this is where I’m using the Quilt wallpaper from Hygge & West.

And yes, that is Milo’s tail in the corner of the pic. He loves to photobomb.

I also had some fun getting the light fixture, when I went to order it from my regular lighting supplier, it was discontinued….what? and they didn’t have any in their warehouse….sob. So after a little more sourcing I found a very similar one at Zone in the market and luckily they had one in stock. I was off like a shot to pick it up. I just have to pick up the proper bulbs and get hubby to install it for me and that can be checked off the list.

So this week’s objectives, paint the bookcase, light fixture installed and get the drapes finished. Wish me luck!

So time is just flying. So to recap, I’m a guest participant in the One Room Challenge , which was started a few years ago by Linda at Calling It Home. Bloggers link up and share their one room transformations that they are attempting to do in a mere six weeks. You can follow along the featured designers here and my fellow linkers here, as they share their inspirations, challenges and of course, the results.

Last week, I got a lot accomplished. I finished up my inspiration mood board, selected wallpaper, fabric and wallpaper. Placed a few orders and also, miraculously even had the room painted. I really thought that was not going to happen until much later on. I also had the drapery rod installed and did some sourcing at Ikea.

I’ve been working on the drapes, which I decided to tackle myself, as they are very simple panels. Again, not so sure this was a great idea as I’m a little strapped for time and obviously, I’m not a professional sewer. Here’s hoping they turn out okay.

The Ikea chair is all put together, it looks great and is very comfy. I also assembled this Alex storage unit. Can’t wait to fill the drawers will lots of my hobby and sewing supplies. I love that it’s on casters so I can roll it around to where I need it, depending on what I’m doing.

As I mentioned last week, I picked up some storage pieces from Ikea to use for my craft and sewing supplies. Here’s a few ideas that I’m planning to use….hopefully.

Images via Ikea and Pinterest

So to explain, the hanging fabric on hangers is brilliant, as currently they are in a big mess on my bookcase and this way you can see exactly what you have and it’ll be nicely tucked away out of sight in my closet, until I need to see what I have. Of course, this won’t work for the big bolts of upholstery and drapery fabric that I have but thankfully there aren’t too many of those. I picked up some of these hanging containers and rods from Ikea and I’m thinking I’ll be using them somewhere, somehow. The magnetic strips are typically used for knife storage or spices, but I have another idea for it. Instead of spices, think beads and buttons!

Mostly, this week I tackled some spray painting. I wanted to add a little more gold to the Ikea sconces. Take a peek at the before and after:

I’ve had a bit of a challenge with the main light fixture this week, but more on that next week. I’ll also be sharing some more painting updates on my next post.

So, it’s already Week 2 of the ORC and to recap, I’m a guest participant in the One Room Challenge , which was started a few years ago by Linda at Calling It Home. Bloggers link up and share their one room transformations that they are attempting to do in a mere six weeks. You can follow along the featured designers here and my fellow linkers here, as they share their inspirations, challenges and of course, the results.

So this is a little design lesson in my choice of fabric and the inspiration it provided for the room. Starting with the paisley fabric, which by the way was actually a duvet cover I found in the clearance section of Toronto’s Pottery Barn last fall. It was exactly what I was looking for, a fabric with a fun pattern that had the orangey, rusts in it to coordinate with the existing orangey wood tables that I had.

Because I wanted a warm/cool mix in the room, it was easy for me to pull the turquoise out of the fabric to use as a wall colour.

The turquoise office chair was a totally serendipitious find at Ikea yesterday. It was labeled “last chance” on Ikea’s display wall and when I went to the furniture pick up aisle, it was the last one! And it is exactly one shade darker than the wall colour. Totally meant to be!

The Ikea drawer unit in grey repeats the grey in the fabric and the light fixtures in black complement the fabric and a little bit of black in every room is a must! The Quilt wallpaper in cayenne from Hygge & West is the perfect graphic print to contrast the paisley fabric. You’ll just have to keep visiting to see where it will be used. The last little pop of pattern is a cheery little turquoise and white chevron fabric from Tonic Living to add a dash of colour in an unexpected place….teaser 🙂

I love the gold wall clock that I’ve shown here, but unfortunately it’s out of stock at All Modern, until June….sob. So if anyone knows of a similar one, please let me know. And why did I choose gold for the clock, well it repeats the bit of gold in the two light fixtures and the golden yellow in the drapery fabric. See there is a reason why every item is selected.

I also picked up a few storage items at Ikea yesterday, which I’ll share next week. And my luck was still holding, when my painter called on Monday to say that because of a delayed job, he was available to start this week. Woot! So this is happening now!